More to come yet: Fleetwood Away

We weren’t as bad today as some people are making out and had it not been for some poor early defending we would have been good value for at least a point.I never thought I’d say I was glad to be in Fleetwood, but leaving at 11:00 from work and with an ETA of 2:45 it was a relief to have completed the 212 mile trip by 2:15. In hindsight was it worth it? Yes! Anything to watch the Rovers. I’d always wanted to visit Highbury Stadium, although preferably the one in London. Fleetwoods was tidy for this level, if small.
Clarke made only one change to the lineup ahead of kickoff, replacing Christian Montano with Byron Moore but as is becoming common on the road, we began looking very flat. Clearly Fleetwood are a very good side, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them in the playoffs come the end of the season, despite being more than beatable I would have happily taken a point before kick off.
As it was Fleetwood took the lead, Ollie Clarke was quick to close down the wide man but stopped short of him allowing an easy turn and cross, the ball was laid off to Ash Hunter whose first time attempt had just enough innit to carry it past Will Puddy. To the absolute moron who decided this was Will Puddy’s fault and thought it acceptable to spit at him, I’m
glad you got kicked out and hope the club find and ban you. It never looks good when fans fight amongst themselves but fair play to each and every Gashead who moved to stop him, and for the record, it wasn’t Puddys fault at all.
Ex Rovers Cian Bolger got the second which came about in a more controversial manner, a corner was floated across and it looked like Puddy was fouled before the ball was bundled over the line from close range. It was something of a home decision and nine times out of ten I think a foul is given there.
We mixed it up slightly during the second half, instantly reaping the rewards of the switch to 3-5-2 as Billy Bodin’s rocket halved the deficit. We had a few chances to get level, Taylor broke out wide and should have found Ellis in the middle, and Byron Moore needed to do better with a cross from the bye line. The ball wasn’t dropping for us and with ten minutes to go Ball took advantage of a poor clearance to condemn us to our fifth straight away defeat.
The performance wasn’t awful and the players deserve some credit for giving a very good Fleetwood side a run for their money, the home team were of course undefeated in 16 before the game and had six straight clean sheets. It also wasn’t for a complete lack of effort, unlike Shrewsbury which we won’t talk about! A lot of fans, myself included, are quick to criticise because we know the players are capable of so much more than they’re giving away from home lately, and I’m looking up the table thinking if we can get the away form right there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t be in the playoffs come the end of the season.
We’ve got to dig deep and go again at Walsall next week because that will be another tough game, anyone beating Sheffield United 4-1 is a more than competent team and Walsall will look to get at us from the off. The players are going to need even more great support from the Gashead contingent. See you there, UTG!Τ